I just read this book over the weekend and I quite enjoyed it - it was a nice change of pace from the earlier Typhon Pact novels (not to say I didn't like them also), and I felt that the story was well suited as a novella. Personally, I'd like to see more novellas like this.

Click to expand...

There have been quite a few Star Trek e-book novellas over the years. From August 2000 - September 2007 74 entries in the SCE/Corps of Engineers series were released, the first 66 of these have also been released in 13 paperback collections. In 2006 they cut back from the monthly releases and instead went for a 3 month on/off rotation with a couple different miniseries, first TOS: Mere Anarchy, then TNG: Slings and Arrows.
The e-book line then went on hiatus until the October 2011 with the release of TSW. October of last year saw the release of the TOS based Vanguard coda In Tempest's Wake, and this March we will be getting TNG: The Stuff of Dreams.

(Man, I am just on a Star Trek week--must be my busted air conditioner)

​

Warning: Strange digression into RL politics ahead.

I've always been fascinated with modern Arab cultures' struggle with the West. Not necessarily in terms of geopolitics but the sheer lack of ability to find common ground more often than not. During the Cold War, the Middle East was lumped in with the rest of the Third World less because it wasn't involved in the struggle between NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations than its members didn't want to ally with either.

Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was briefly one of the most listened-to men in the world due to his opposition to both sides, highlighting the Soviet Union's state-based atheism and the United States' commercial secularism as reasons for the Muslim world to go it alone. Obviously, his support of terrorism destroyed his influence world-wide and the world is better for it. However, it highlighted the culture divide when I first read about it. The United States frequently speaks about how it wishes to foster democracy world-wide but gets extremely irritated when the public votes for a government dissimilar from its own.

During the Second Iraqi War, one of the early questions about what was going to happen was whether or not the Iraqi people were going to become a theocratic oligarchy like Iran. Iraq, of course, didn't go this way but the biggest fear was that the people themselves would vote in leaders to install this. I found myself surrounded by classmates who were dreading democracy in action--because it was democracy they didn't like.

In December, 2010 the Arab Spring began in part due to the failed democratic protests in Iran but also due to a rising tide of other factors from education to internet access. The overthrow of governments was done through means both nonviolent and otherwise, eventually bringing down the aforementioned Muammar Gaddafi amongst others. Of particular note was Egypt, whose firmly entrenched dictator was overthrown and promptly replaced with a populist religious movement. For many, it was a sign of a new day beginning in the Middle East. For others, it was a cause for concern.

This relates to The Struggle Within as Christopher Bennett puts us squarely in an allegory to the Arab Spring with both the Talarians and the Kinshaya. For those who aren't enormous Star Trek nerds, the Talarians are a chauvinist race of warriors from TNG while the Kinshaya are a novels-only theocratic government of griffons.

Yes, really.

You can gauge roughly what sort of Star Trek fan by whether or not your reaction to that last bit is like mine (totally awesome) or like others I've read the posts of (stupid). For me, I fall on the line that a little craziness makes the Star Trek universe all the sweeter. I love the Kinshaya and would dearly enjoy seeing them interact with the Federation on a regular basis, particularly because if Starfleet had trouble with the Bajoran religion they'll lay an egg (pun intended) over the Kinshaya's. There's nothing particularly funny about the book itself, however, which depicts the Kinshaya's nonviolent protest movements entirely seriously. They're a deeply spiritual people who desire to have a little more freedom in how to worship their god.

The Federation sees all manner of possibilities in this descent, including the possibility they might turn into a more secular government. I liked this last bit as it highlights the Federation seeing what it wanted to see versus what will probably happen.

Of course, in RL, I support secularism not because of any irreligious thoughts (though people are welcome to have them) but because I believe dissent is important for any healthy functioning society and any religious conversion won by pressure is worthless. It is a failure of many modern Christians they fail to realize Freedom of Belief protects them every bit as much as it protects others.

The Talarian situation is equally troublesome to the Federation as they desire the violent chauvinistic people to join them in the expanded Khitomer Accords. I'm reminded of David Webber's Grayson people in the Honorverse when describing the Talarians.

They're not misogynists per say, there's no indication the women are physically abused (indeed, the taboo against such is extremely high), but they do restrict them from many cultural roles. No sooner does the Federation start compromising its principles by dealing with this decidedly un-Roddenberry group that the females start engaging in resistance for greater rights.

Part of what I like about this book is the fact the Federation really has no idea what the hell is going on in the minds of the dissidents. The Kinshaya are strongly motivated by mysticism, arguing with the government on points completely esoteric to your average Feddie, while the Talarian women's demands are not what you'd immediately expect. It's very similar to many RL situations where cultural grievances are not universal and outsiders often misunderstand (or deliberately misrepresent) demands to cater to their own perspectives.

My favorite parts of the book deal with Jasminder Choudhury and T'Ryssa Chen. They are my two favorite Novelverse characters and such a breath of fresh air from the "old faithfuls." Jasminder Choudhury's peaceful nature contrasts nicely to the typical Security Officer stereotype. It's moving to see her want to see the peaceful protests of the Kinshaya succeed over more violent action. T'Ryssa Chen, the Happy Vulcan is just awesome and I could read a whole book about her adventures. She, more than anyone else, serves as an audience surrogate for the strange dealings going on around her.

Seeing the Talarians return from their appearance in "Suddenly Human" and other spots was a welcome surprise, as well. They're not a bad race, albeit I grossly disagree with any form of non-equality, but they're leery of getting absorbed into the Federation wholesale. For a government so keen on cultural contamination, everyone around it seems to think it's some kind of root-beer-based Borg. I'm a little saddened by how their negotiations go but unsurprised.

In conclusion, I think this was a great tribute to the nonviolent resistance of the world and those who marched their way to freedom without guns. Selling nothing short to those who won their freedom with firearms, swords, or golf clubs--I applaud the courage lauded here and Christopher Bennett's tribute to it.

^Great review, thanks! You really got what I was going for. Except for one thing -- I don't see why there's anything crazy about the Kinshaya being nonhumanoid. Sure, their form bears a broad resemblance to griffins, but that's just an analogy for their shape (for one thing, they're furred rather than feathered, and I believe they have muzzles rather than beaks). If anything, it's the preponderance of humanoid aliens in Trek that's ludicrous and worthy of scoffing at.

I leave my suspension of disbelief squarely at the door, Christopher. For me, any answer for "Why so many human-like aliens" is that Star Trek's interaction with them is about our interaction with ourselves and different cultures. But yes, you're right they're not LITERAL griffons--which I'd be equally okay with.

Glad you liked my review.

It's sad we're not going to see any more of her character. Her death hit me like Tasha Yar, really.

I hope nothing happens to T'Ryssa!

You should write more novellas, this was quite good! I really hope we'll see some Kinshaya-Federation action soon.

One quibble: The Talarian situation is just a bandaid in the long run. There can't possibly be such unanimity of opinion amongst Talarian females that formal politics is irrelevant and not what they want to participate in that there wouldn't be a lot of Talarian women wishing to break into the patriarchy's power structure. And the very fact that so many Talarian women felt so oppressed by the government's recent policies means, at the end of the day, that they can't just trust the government not to infringe upon their rights and desires without eventually seeking a voice.

Click to expand...

I had a different view from both Sci AND possibly Christopher here, that the main benefit coming from this particular event on Talaria is the fact that it's a small change as opposed to a major cultural upheaval. The Talarian women have grievances with the government and the Talarian government doesn't want to appear weak by caving in. However, due to a series of oddball events, the two manage to get to talking for a bit. The government gives the females, presumably, their relatively modest demands and things go on fine.

Except, of course, there will be future demands.

Which, probably, will not be unreasonable themselves.

And so on and so on.

I saw Christopher depicting Women's Suffrage on Talaria with widening freedoms rather than radical overthrow.

Of course, I may be falling into the trap of assuming that "progress" will mean becoming like the Federation when dealing with an alien race. As a feminist though, I'm inclined to be okay with this since "more freedom=good" with rare exceptions.

I saw Christopher depicting Women's Suffrage on Talaria with widening freedoms rather than radical overthrow.

Click to expand...

No, that's not it at all. See my comments in post #51. My intent was to create a situation that initially looked like our historic gender-equality struggles, but then turned out to be something different, because, guess what, they're aliens! The idea was that the females didn't really need suffrage, that they had traditionally held full power over certain aspects of the social order while males held authority over different ones, and it had been an effective balance of power/division of labor until the current male regime started horning in on traditional female responsibilities and disrupting the balance. As far as the females saw it, they already held the more important roles in society while the males squandered their time on frivolous power games and fighting. So each sex thought of itself as the dominant one and denigrated the other sex's responsibilities.

I just finished reading this, and enjoyed it - shame it couldn't be longer though, as it felt like there wasn't enough time to fully develop the plot potential. How come the ebook releases are "novellas" rather than "novels"?
I liked the bringing back of Jono and tha Talarians, and the mention of bald tattooed romulan sub-species (like we saw in the first JJ movie).

I'm not sure. Maybe because they can be? Novellas are too short to be sold as standalone print books, but magazines and anthologies rarely publish them. So e-books are kind of the only venue left for stories in that midsize range. We've already got full-length novels and short stories/novelettes in print, so if you're going to do original e-books, why not do something different with them, something that complements what's done in print rather than duplicating it?

I liked the bringing back of Jono and tha Talarians, and the mention of bald tattooed romulan sub-species (like we saw in the first JJ movie).

But yes, I actually do like the hunter/gatherer style culture of the Talarians. Strict segregation of duties versus oppression. That fits well with what we know of the race and explains a bit about how they got this way.

Not an odd question at all; we've got a whole really long thread on casting ideas for Trek Lit. But I didn't base Trys on a specific actress. The best suggestion offered in the casting thread to date is a Hong Kong actress named Charlene Choi. Maurissa Tancharoen might also work, although she's shorter than Trys is supposed to be.

I'm not sure. Maybe because they can be? Novellas are too short to be sold as standalone print books, but magazines and anthologies rarely publish them. So e-books are kind of the only venue left for stories in that midsize range. We've already got full-length novels and short stories/novelettes in print, so if you're going to do original e-books, why not do something different with them, something that complements what's done in print rather than duplicating it?

I liked the bringing back of Jono and tha Talarians, and the mention of bald tattooed romulan sub-species (like we saw in the first JJ movie).

Click to expand...

Not a subspecies, just a subculture/class.

Click to expand...

Fair point- I suppose its because I don't read print novels anymore, I read novels on the Kindle, and the UK pricing for the novellas is the same as a full novel, the only difference to me was the length.

Of course, I may be falling into the trap of assuming that "progress" will mean becoming like the Federation when dealing with an alien race. As a feminist though, I'm inclined to be okay with this since "more freedom=good" with rare exceptions.

Click to expand...

*shrugs* At the end of the day, there is often an inevitable conflict between saying that you believe in universal rights and that you believe in cultural relativity. At some point, one often has to pick between them -- you can't say you believe in feminism, for instance, yet also have complete respect for cultural practices such as female genital mutilation; you can't say you believe in democracy without opposing apartheid systems; etc. Few cultures, not even the cultures of the West, are immune to these kinds of contradictions; we've eventually got to pick which side we're on.